Inclusion Amount

An additional amount of income that a taxpayer may have to report as a result of leasing a vehicle or other property for business purposes. The inclusion amount must be reported if the fair market value of the leased vehicle exceeds a certain threshold.

The inclusion amount is designed to limit the taxpayer's deduction amount to the amount that would be deductible as depciation if the taxpayer owned the vehicle or equipment. This pvents the taxpayer from being able to deduct the entire amount of the larger lease payment versus the lesser amount of the depciation.

The inclusion amount will differ according to the type of property or equipment that is leased; the inclusion amount for cars is different than the rate applied to office equipment or computers. Car leases require that an inclusion amount be included for every year that a vehicle is leased, while other property needs an inclusion amount only if the business usage drops to 50% or less during the year.